24 - 72 Hour Round the Clock Respite in the Home by Hospice Volunteers

[Patricia]

Is anyone doing this or know of a hospice provider who is? I have been asked to look at the possiblility of providing this serivce to our hospice families.

[MJ Schaumann]

I had also been asked to look into this type of volunteer service, however, we are located in New York and the DOH guidelines are very clear on "no hands on care" by a volunteer so there would be very limited activities that a volunteer could provide. Also, I had tried to coordinate a "vigil" program but when I met with the group of volunteers who had expressed interest we started to discuss that the service would have to be offered to every family throughout Westchester County and if a patient was located in the northern part of the county and the volunteers lived south, they would still be required to travel to the patient's home. This became a stumbling block.
I hope this helps.

[Greg Schneider]

Hi Patricia,

I think this is going to be a challenge for you. I am not aware of any hospices that provide long term respite for hospice patients with volunteers. Most volunteers aren't available for an extended period of time to fill that need. I am aware of hospices who do provide vigiling services around the clock but only for short periods of time, say for a few days. That is usually accomplished with a group of volunteers. Perhaps volunteers may spend the night with a patient in shifts.

Greg